Mind, Body, and Soul: How I Turned My Life Upside Down in 4 Weeks

For the last four weeks, I’ve turned my life upside down because, well, things needed to change. It started out with being healthier, but I found that a healthy body turned into a healthy mind and a healthy soul.

Below are 20 things I did to shape up my life.

Here’s the challenge: Make your own list of things you can do to create a healthy mind, body, and soul.

1. Exercised (Zumba) 5 times a week.
   I abhor sweating. I do not want to huff and puff, but I know that if I don’t get this weight off, I’ll be doing a lot more huffin’ and puffin’. Because running makes me want to punch a puppy, I opted for Zumba. It’s challenging and fun, and it burns tons of calories. If I’m going to work out, then it has to be the biggest bang for my buck.
2. Drank 4 liters of water every day.
   You’ve got to cleanse yo’self! My skin is clearer than ever, and I know those toxins are waving bye-bye with all this water. I don’t need to school you on all the reasons why water is the bee’s knees, though. Just drink your water!
3. Practiced Italian 5 times a week.
   We all have hobbies or interests that are important to us, yet we put them off for another time. This year, I made a commitment to studying my Italian through Rosetta Stone. All year long, I’ve completed my lessons. But these last four weeks, I’ve worked hard to reach one milestone after another. For you, it might not be a foreign language. It could be learning to sew or learning to cook. Make time for it, and work that brain.
4. Wrote in my novel 3–5 times a week.
   The most important thing to me this year, besides losing weight, is finishing my novel. I swear this book is going to kill me, but I’ll die happy knowing I finished it. I’ve added 5,000 words to my novel and have edited 70 pages since I turned my world upside down. Every day that I write, I tally up how many words I wrote. It doesn’t matter if I wrote one single word—one is better than zero.
5. Organized and attended a writers’ group.
   Thank God for accountability. This writers’ group kind of fell in my lap, and I’m so glad it did. Last week, we did writing prompts (“Your villain has to go to the grocery store. What does he or she buy, and why?”) and a writing exercise (Pass on Passive Voice). Working our writing muscles and bonding together over the same love is exactly what I needed in my life. For you, maybe you don’t need a writers’ group, but you need accountability. Can you start or attend a group to help you shape up your life?
6. Pulled way back on Hulu and Netflix.
   If I’m not glued to a TV screen, perhaps I could be glued to something else? Like a book? Or my own novel? I took this so seriously that I had my friend change my passwords so I wouldn’t cheat.
7. Swam with my family every Sunday.
   My sister has an in-ground pool, so for the past few weeks, we’d all meet at her house after church and bring food and swim all afternoon. We get so busy now with the hustle-and-bustle of everyday life that we don’t take advantage of the time we could be spending with our family. I’m happier when I’m bonding with them, so the pool time on Sunday made a huge difference for me in my attitude. Plus, sunshine does the body good.
8. Cooked a lot of meals.
   Thankfully, I love cooking. But sometimes, I didn’t want to cook. I wanted to drive my car over to the Lord’s chicken—Chick-fil-A—and say goodbye to any clean-up. But I couldn’t do that. I needed to feed my body a salad, not a spicy chicken sandwich (Hallelujah!). Your body needs fuel, good fuel, so that means more grocery shopping and more dishes, but a way healthier body. It also gave me an excuse to be on Pinterest more.
9. Drank fresh fruit smoothies.
   Don’t you just feel better the moment you drink up a mason jar of fruit? My go-to recipe: blueberries, pineapple, banana, ginger, spinach, and almond milk. I just feel healthy drinking it. I feel like I did my body a favor.
10. Planned my meals for each week.
    I picked up a handy planner in Dallas and use it every week. I’m less apt to make poor food choices when everything is already planned for me. It only takes me 10 minutes to plan my meals, but it saves me so much time during the week.
11. Ate my favorite ice cream every now and then.
    Sure, I’m doing my best to fuel my body well; but I’m not going to deprive myself. Like, can we stop with this whole “no more ice cream”? I had ice cream several times during this 4-week shindig, and I’m still 7.4 pounds down (should be to 10 this Friday). I put the ice cream in a smaller bowl and I savored it. You can have a healthy lifestyle and still eat your ice cream.
12. Visited friends, even if they were 200 miles away.
    Road trips do the mind good, and good friends do the heart well. I needed the open road and some time to myself, but I certainly loved being with my friends even more. Making memories is a huge part of living a happy life.
13. Watched so much Gary Vaynerchuk.
    If you’re an entrepreneur and you don’t know who Gary Vee is, then forget this post and get to learning, son. I eat up everything he delivers, because he’s so spot-on about business and marketing and the entrepreneur life. In fact, on my way back from Dallas, I listened to him for three hours straight. You need that in your life, whether it’s Gary or someone else. Just someone ridiculously awesome who can tell you exactly what you need to hear about your career. Basically, you need to be pumped up! So find someone who can do that (and share in the comments so I can listen too).
14. Quit eating out for two weeks.
    This was difficult. In fact, my entire family went out for Mexican food one night to celebrate my niece’s graduation. I went, but I ate beforehand and didn’t eat a thing while I was there. Not a single chip. I told them ahead of time that I couldn’t eat, and they understood. Not eating out for two weeks forced me to cook more and to make wiser choices. Plus, it saved me money. Bonus!
15. Indulged in pedicures.
    For you, it could be a back massage or a facial. I have plantar fasciitis, so my feet feel like a Buick has been sitting on them all day. When I get a pedicure with the extra ten-minute foot massage, I just feel ten times better. It’s a different way of taking care of your body, I know. But it works. When your body is relaxed, the mind and soul relax too.
16. Helped more in church.
    From starting a Facebook page to orchestrating a musical, I’ve been trying hard to find ways to get more involved in my church. It’s not always easy at first, especially if you’ve been on the DL for a while. You don’t really know where to start, where to help. But trust me: there’s always something you can do to help. You have a sweeter spirit when you’re helping your pastor. You have a better attitude when you’re spending a Saturday with the teenagers listening to them sing. Your soul is fed when you take notes in your Bible during the sermon. Just try to get involved, and see how your attitude changes.
17. Threw the ball for my two dogs.
    How did this help me? Playing outside with my dogs brought a smile to my face. I got fresh air. I wore out my crazy little animals. Don’t you just feel better when you spend a few minutes with your adorable pets?
18. Took luxurious baths with stress relief soap.
    At the end of the day, sometimes you need to de-stress a bit. I bought stress relief bubble bath and soap from Bath & Body Works. It relaxed me and made me smell purdy. Win-win!
19. Found solutions to huge problems.
    When obstacles come along, you might have the urge to just turn around and find another route. I get it. I feel that way sometimes too. But these four weeks meant overcoming the problems, finding solutions. So when it looked like I wouldn’t be able to go to Virginia to speak on marketing, I got to work. I hustled! I made phone calls and talked to people—actually, complete strangers I’ve never talked to before. I found a way to make it work financially and fixed the problem. Work your mind a bit. It won’t mind the challenge.
20. Read books in my new book nook.
    Before I started this challenge, I added a book nook to my bedroom—a place specifically reserved for reading. No working whatsoever. And many nights, I would cozy up in my huge fluffy chair and read a book. It was quiet and comfortable, which allowed me to be fully captivated while reading, instead of distracted by TV or whatever else.

It’s now week 5, and I feel fantastic. My body looks better, my attitude is better, and my mind is better. Try the challenge for 4 weeks, and let me know what you did to turn your world upside down. I genuinely want to know!

An expert editor, seasoned writer, and author-centric coach, Shayla Eaton works one-on-one with self-published authors, having edited 300 books. She is the president of Curiouser Editing, where she offers top-notch publishing guidance for authors and their books.

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